Financial Times places Romania among countries accused of undermining democratic principles

Anca Alexe 21/12/2017 | 13:14

British publication The Financial Times writes that the EU governments who are critical of Poland are not just in those in Western Europe, according to Hotnews.

Although “not all ex-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe are the black sheep of the EU”, FT continues, “those countries that are accused of undermining democratic principles or of lack of action against corruption and judiciary independence are in the East. Besides Poland, among them are Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania”.

Financial Times mentions that Eastern Europeans are the main beneficiaries of the EU’s regional aid funds, as per its 2014-2020 budget.

“Poland receives the most money. Germany and like-minded countries claim that the next budget should condition the financing on the compliance with EU values. However, this threat might be less alarming for PiS politicians than some Western Europeans might imagine. I myself heard Mateusz Morawiecki, the new Polish PM, saying that he would be glad of such a chance to heal the dependency of the Polish economy on the EU subventions”, writes the author.

FT says that the Commission’s action will almost certainly not lead to concrete sanctions applied to Poland, such as the suspension of its voting rights in the EU. Such a measure would require unanimity from the EU governments, and Poland’s friends in Budapest would block it. However, the animosity between West and East would continue to simmer.